Review: Jack in the Box Bacon Shake and BLT cheeseburger

So I am walking home from class the other day, scrolling thru my twitter feed when grubgrade posted an article about Jack in the Box's new BLT cheeseburger and Bacon shake. I am by no means the worlds biggest bacon fan, but crazy fast food ideas like this one always catch my attention. Needless to say, I changed my walking direction towards the nearest Jack in the Box and gave these two a try.

I am going to start with the more intriguing of the two, the Bacon shake. Now this concept is not really new. Bigger restaurants all over the country have been mixing bacon with sweet for a while now. Heck, last year even Denny's got on this trend with their Bacon Milkshake. Regardless, I was still surprised a fast food place like Jack in the Box had the guts to throw this out there. I was also excited because I have never really had the urge to try a bacon desert and this made it easy.

I do not think Jack in the Box has staff meetings because when I asked for the shake, only one out of the seven employees even knew what the hell I was talking about. The rest of them just looked at me confused. Eventually I got my shake, and at first I was a bit disappointed. I was hoping it would have little bacon bits in it or something. I mean if your gunna go crazy, go all the way right? It just uses a bacon syrup flavoring that gives the shake a bit darker vanilla color. It smelled more like vanilla then bacon, with only a hint of smokiness. I was nervous to try it, after all it IS a BACON SHAKE. Honestly though, it tasted pretty good. At first it comes of more like a vanilla shake. The bacon flavor doesn't hit you until midway through your first few sips. I was impressed by how much it actually tasted like bacon, yet still have a strong enough vanilla flavor to not be disgusting. It was actually a really enjoyable shake all the way through with a good balance of sweet and bacon.

Now on to the BLT burger. This was also another pleasant suspire. When I think of Jack in the Box burgers, I think of a shit ton of meet and cheese slathered in mayo. This burger was pretty much just a whopper with no onions or ketchup, but I have never had this many veggies on a burger at Jack in the Box. I gotta say, I really liked it. The shredded lettuce gave the bigger a good heft and crunch. The tomatoes were juicy and plentiful. There was around 6 pieces of bacon on it too. It actually reminded me a lot of a BLT. I do NOT get why there are pickles on there, especially because they did not really had much to the flavor, and its not called a BLTP. Oh well, I am sure there is some research explaining why somewhere.

Ratings:
Bacon Shake: 4/5 "It's Just Swell"
BLT Burger: 4/5 "It's Just Swell"

I gotta say I am impressed. They managed to recreate two tastes in common fast food items, and do it well. If you like bacon at all or are just curious like me I recommend giving the shake a try. If you like Jack in the Box burgers but wish they had more veggies, then give the BLT a go. I do not know if I will ever have either again, but thats more because I dont really care for Jack in the Box.

PS check out the impulsive buy for another view of the Bacon Shake.

tell next time folks